I recently read an article, “5 Common New Age Misconceptions You Need To Understand” by Erin Janus. Now, I had personally been under the impression that the term New Age had fallen out of vogue, so seeing it after years of not, I was curious. As I read through the article I was struck, not by what it had to say about being New Age, but rather that the same misconceptions they listed are all alive and well in the Church as well.
1. Ignore the negative.
In Christianity we do this by “not speaking that over myself”. Literally, I have seen people who have been so sick they could not keep their eyes open and had tissue stuffed up their nose, but by God, they were not going to accept that they were ill. Because if they named it they claimed it, so they walked around infecting everyone else because they would not acknowledge this “great evil” had any power over them.
The article said that many believed that you give power to something that is harmful simply by “putting your attention on and becoming aware of it.” Sound familiar?
2. Never get angry.
Oh, we’ve heard this one haven’t we? Anger and offense is the bait of Satan and should be avoided at all costs. It is a favorite of leadership who want to keep their congregations in line, because you are supposed to believe that good Christians are never angry. We are all long-suffering and patient, just like Jesus. (I guess they forgot about that whole Temple scene with the whips.)
Look, most anger is about our hurt feelings or pride, even at being inconvenienced, but sometimes anger is the appropriate response. (As evidenced in that whole Temple scene.) What we need to be taught is not how to stuff our emotions, but rather, to steward them in godly, healthy, productive ways.
The article rightly points out that to shut out anger can lead to “apathy and passivity to the injustices happening in our world today.” How many Christians does that describe?
3. There is no right and wrong.
We don’t say it this way. After all, there are still some lines we won’t cross, but we are some of the most talented people in the world at saying things we don’t really say. So we use these words instead: “God loves everyone and he just wants us to be happy”, “I felt like God was leading me to __(insert sinful action)___ because __(insert extenuating circumstance/special privilege)___”, “Times and culture has changed and we must change with it”, or “I know it was wrong, but God will forgive me.”
When we start making excuses and conjuring up caveats for why God’s word is wrong we are essentially saying that there is no right or wrong. Or worse, we are saying that God was wrong when he crafted that sacred book.
The article points out that when a person reaches this place they will try to convince themselves and others that everything is okay. However, take this a step further since we as Christians seem especially talented in turning this into a special kind of hypocrisy wherein we will still chastise and look down upon those who break the same rules we do.
4. There is no Truth: Perception = Reality
This is the progression of “there is no right or wrong” or, perhaps, it is the genesis of the thought. (This could really be one of those chicken or the egg debates, but moving on…) By presenting himself as the Truth, Jesus clearly demonstrates that the truth is both objective and knowable through him. However, if we deny the revelation of truth contained in his word, we are effectively denying the purpose and power of his presence here on this earth and in our lives.
The article points out that reality and perception are not one and the same. Our perceptions of reality might change but the actuality of what is truly happening does not. As Christians, we need to be aware of how our perceptions affect our understanding of the truth and be working to bring ourselves into alignment with it.
5. What you resist persists…So don’t resist.
“I am just going to let go and let God”, “We will be in prayer about that”, “Just love them to Jesus”, or “Keep praying God will give you peace about it” are a few of the ways we have embraced this principle. The idea is that if we just pray hard enough and have enough faith, we will eventually learn to accept the circumstances that cause us pain. It seems so spiritual to walk past evil as if it had no ability to harm you. In many Christian circles this serene acceptance of pain and injustice has become the litmus test for the spiritual mature.
However, there are things in this world that we, as Christians, should be resisting. We should be resisting homelessness, starvation, abuse, addiction, and disease. We should be resisting apathy and the temptation to make laziness sound like a spiritual endeavor.
The article says, “If we do not resist the evil that is destroying freedom, health, and happiness in the world, then nothing will change or improve.” Boys and girls, that is a fact and one we would like to by-pass in an attempt to justify our own unwillingness to become involved in those issues that would demand more of us than we are willing to give.
Why did I bother to go through a New Age article on a Christian blog? I did it for two reasons: 1.) It bothers me that we as the Church have incorporated so many popular New Age fallacies into our faith without ever questioning the origin. 2.) It saddens me that so often we have failed to address them with the same bold manner as Erin Janus has demonstrated for us in her writing.
Link to the original article here:
http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/5-common-new-age-misconceptions-you-need-to-understand/
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